What Boomers Afforded Easily That’s Out of Reach Today
My mom loves telling the story of how she and my dad bought their first house in their twenties. He was a mechanic, she worked part-time at a pharmacy, and somehow they managed a home with a big yard and a garage for less than a new Honda Civic costs today. Every time she shares it, I smile—but I can’t help doing the math, because deals like that just don’t exist anymore.
Today, milestones like owning a home, raising a family on one income, or taking a modest vacation feel almost mythical. A ConsumerAffairs report notes that people today have about 63% more purchasing power than Boomers did in 1973, but skyrocketing costs make life feel much tougher. Let’s break down five things Boomers could afford with far less struggle than most people today.
Buying a Home Without a Lifetime of Debt
Back in the 1970s, buying a home didn’t require selling your soul and a kidney. The average house cost around $23,000, which was about 2.5 times the average household income.
Today, that ratio has ballooned to more than five times income, according to the Visual Capitalist. It’s not just inflation; it’s policy, demand, and the slow disappearance of affordable starter homes.
Paying for College Without Drowning in Loans
Boomers could pay for college with a summer job and still have beer money left over. However, data shows that college costs have risen over 1,000% since 1970.
College tuition at public four‑year schools rose from about $1,500 a year in the 1970s (~$9,000 today) to $21,600 by 2020 — a more than 14‑fold jump. College is still a good investment in theory, but for many, it’s an investment that delays everything else—homes, families, and sometimes even peace of mind.
Raising a Family on One Income
Have you forgotten those old sitcoms where one parent stayed home while the other worked? That setup now looks like pure fantasy. In the 1970s, a single income could cover a mortgage, groceries, and a vacation or two. Today, it takes two full incomes just to match that same standard of living.
Childcare alone can cost as much as rent in big cities. A 2025 survey by Care.com found that parents spend 22% of household income on child care. For many families, the “choice” to have one parent stay home isn’t a choice at all; it’s financial suicide.
Retiring Comfortably on a Modest Savings
Boomers entered the workforce during the golden age of pensions, steady jobs, and low healthcare costs. Retirement was something you planned for—not something you feared. But for Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z, the safety nets are thinner, and the costs are steeper.
Retirement has gone from “time to relax” to “time to work part-time at Target for health insurance.” It’s not laziness that keeps people working into their 70s—it’s survival in a system that moved the finish line further and further away.
Enjoying Leisure Without the Price Tag
A spontaneous road trip used to be a rite of passage. Gas was cheap, motels were $20 a night, and no one cared about fancy Instagram photos. The average vacation in 1980 cost what a weekend of groceries does now.
Even simple pleasures like going to the movies or dining out feel pricier. What was once routine is now something people “budget for.”
Key Takeaways
Boomers built their lives during a time when wages, housing, and costs worked in harmony. Younger generations earn more on paper but have far less buying power in reality. Homeownership, college, and retirement have become uphill battles, not milestones.
The dream hasn’t disappeared—it’s just drifted further from reach. And maybe that’s why nostalgia hits so hard: it’s not about wanting to live in the past, but wanting to afford what the past once promised.
Read the original article on Crafting Your Home
